Golden Hour

I have enjoyed Kasey's songs for a while now. First time listening to a whole album and I loved it. Plus I got to watch the Sounders win last night so I am feeling extra generous. Five stars!

Love this album

Just kind of bland pop country.

I’m at a 4.5 that I’ll bump up to a 5.

Right off the bat, I have to avoid the temptation to make any direct comparisons to Taylor Swift. This is my first time actually properly listening to Kacey Musgraves, and I don’t think it’s fair for me to use another artist in the same space as a sort of crutch – yes, this is a country pop album, but this leans into more of an indie rock direction with a yacht rock bend that usually evokes something like Tame Impala or Coldplay. When she sounds like Taylor, then those comparisons are fair, but I’d only say about 3 or 4 tracks here lean that direction at most. I actually do like Taylor Swift, by the way, but I’ll have to expound on that more once we get 1989.

As far as Kacey Musgraves goes, I’ve heard of her name, and so, so many of my friends have praised this album in particular. I know this album had massive acclaim, but that acclaim, combined with the sort of mythical status my friends gave this, led to me sort of avoiding it. Really, it’s just in the expectations – this isn’t a Janelle Monae thing where I just sort of lazily never bothered (large regret), but more of a “I really don’t want to let my friends down if I think it’s bad” sort of thing.

Of course, I have proven myself to be a moron – I really, really liked this album. While I don’t think the songwriting is as sharp & witty as it was always made out to be, given the amount of broad lovey-dovey platitudes throughout this thing, it’s still pretty good. If nothing else, the way Kacey performs these tracks more than makes up for some of the flatter lines – her vocals are lovely, evoking more of an Alison Krauss vibe on her twangier parts, and Ariana Grande on her held notes. She glides on a lot of these instrumentals, with some really nice vocal melodies & structures. Every track is really nice to listen to from a technical standpoint; there’s a handful of tracks where the instrumentals don’t quite give back to her in the same way (i.e., no matching synth melodies or less energetic percussion), but it’s never enough to ruin a track.

As far as those instrumentals go, there’s a really nice variety that starts to emerge from Track 4 onward. Like I said, my brain went to Tame Impala quite a bit (ESPECIALLY on “High Horse”), but it’s just a general conglomeration of indie rock sensibilities from The White Stripes onwards, blended with pop sensibilities of the early 2010s, some 90s/00s Quiet Storm, a hint of Alanis Morrissette, & country similar to both Taylor Swift’s Fearless (I know, I know, but shh), the Emmylou Harris solo album we got a while back, & a lot of Shania Twain (we’ll get to Come on Over eventually).

I can’t really justify the bump up to a 5 other than my own personal enjoyment – objectively, it’s probably closer to a 4, but something about the last 3 tracks really got me good, especially with how lovely “Rainbow” is as a closing track. That one is fabulous. I think it’s just a catchy album, with a lot of nice choruses & hooks that brought a really warm energy. It’s not a nighttime album, so maybe I’ll have to listen to it outside, during the proper golden hour, to truly capture the vibes this album is going for. For now, it just clicked remarkably well with me, hence the bump to a 5. Not only do I feel like I need to listen to more of Kacey Musgraves, I feel like I need to text a few people about being this late to the party.

I don't like country. But I really liked this album. Started with instant recoil from the typical country twang and is that freakin' banjo? But then...hey, these lyrics are pretty interesting. Hey, I think I like her voice. Hey, that's an interesting chord progression - very different from basic country. Hey, that's a really catchy track. Hey, I've been listening to these songs for days and they are completely stuck in my head. It's still a little bit too much country which keeps me from calling it a 5, but this is really good country. Favorite tracks: Slow Burn, Lonely Weekend, Oh, What a World, Love is a Wild Thing, Happy & Sad, High Horse.

Too smooth for me. The lyrics to Space Cowboy were funny.

Musgraves exhibits a radio country voice, which I can't say I'm in love w/ or would ever feel the need to return to. The soft, gossamer affect leaves me wanting more, and instead of floating I feel like I'm parachuting thru a dull lecture on something pop. Some of the instrumentation, especially as the record gets going, is effective (strings, synths), and lyrics like these are at least up to snuff: 'Plants that grow and open your mind'; 'Coming thru the melody when the night bird sings'; 'I know my place, and it ain't w/ you.' But excited about this I'm not - too innocuous, too tame, not necessarily sterile, but never massively alive, never turbulent or usefully grungy. Saved by 'Happy & Sad' and 'Velvet Elvis,' Kacey suffices but doesn't floor.

I enjoyed this a fair bit, but it got a little samey after a while. A fairly solid three.

Before listening to Golden Hour, I had never heard of Kacey Musgraves, so I was curious to dive into this 2018 release. Exploring modern music outside my usual genres is part of why I took on this challenge, and this album felt like a good place to start.

The opening track, "Slow Burn," lives up to its name — it’s a gentle introduction, but it never really takes off for me. On the other hand, "Lonely Weekend" and "Butterflies" are more engaging and easy to enjoy. My favorite track, though, was "Love Is a Wild Thing." It's beautifully written and captures the heart of the album with its emotional depth and warmth.

What stood out most were the lyrics. Musgraves brings a socially conscious edge to country music, which isn’t something you encounter often. It gives the album a sense of purpose and authenticity beyond the usual themes of love and heartache.

Overall, Golden Hour is a pleasant listen. It’s not groundbreaking for me, but I’d happily give it another spin.

Favorite song: Love Is a Wild Thing
Least favorite: Slow Burn and Mother — both felt a bit too slow and dry.
Album artwork: Cute and fitting for the album’s vibe.

The production on this album is impressive. Almost like if justice produced a country album. She's also a great singer, but it just feels flat? I don't know. It's interesting but not something I find I could listen too on a regular basis.

Love the vocal texture on Slow Burn. Butterflies is a pretty on the nose country love song that does a good job with its earnestness. It's almost cloying but some clever lyric play keeps it just shy of it for me. Space Cowboy walks a similar line for me. Kacey is a very clever lyricist.

This was great. I’ve only listened once, so there’s not any songs that I can specifically point to for ones I’ll go back to. But I will definitely listen to this in full again.

3.5
A nice surprise. Not a modern country fan, but she's accessible like Sheryl Crow was for me generation.

Acceptably average modern country.

I didn't exactly have the highest hopes for Golden Hour seeing as its a country album and I'm usually not a huge fan of those but it actually turned out to be a pretty nice surprise. The songs here are some of the most pleasant and relaxing ones i have heard from this project and the album still managed to be super melodic which is also another pretty decent plus for this album. The production here is also really good and the lyrics are also really good. Some of the songs could get a little samey but never enough to detract from my enjoyment. This album was quite a big surprise to me and it was certainly a good one.
Best Song: Velvet Elvis
Worst Song: Mother
Side Note: Since this review is gonna go up on the first of the new year. To everyone reading this review, happy new year. May 2025 bless us all with great albums.

Nashville country-pop, where it goes more into pop territory.

Pretty middle of the road.

The Good: Golden Hour is the best time to take pretty pictures!
The Bad: The cover shot on the album was NOT taken during Golden Hour.
The Ugly: even if they would have shot the picture during Golden Hour, it would not have made the experience prettier…

If this is supposed to be country, what do cowboys listen to now-a-days?

If mrs Mulgrave would have done her versions of ‘80s classic songs, which is what this album begs for, maybe I would have had a better time… Imagine her version of “The Reflex” or “Wildboys”, and I don’t know why I am using Duran Duran tunes as example…

Sure, the album has production quality, however, seeing as this is the modern Nashville sound, it better. And yet, all this album does is make me want to skip track after track.

1* as I CAN NOT UNDERSTAND WHY THIS IS PART OF THE LIST

I’ve been listening to Kacey Musgraves a bit this year, between “Blowin’ Smoke”, her duet with Zach Bryan “I Remember Everything”, and her recent album Deeper Well. It is only fitting that I get to check out her breakthrough album.

Golden Hour is a good pop country record in its own right. I enjoyed Kacey's expressive charisma, as her vocals come out clear and layered well in the mix, with only a few touches of reverb and a bit of vocoder on "Oh, What a World" that never came off as obtrusive. The instrumental arrangements are similar to traditional country songs but with more languid grooves, which makes for an overall pleasing listen. There are some standout moments such as the stripped-down piano ballad "Rainbow", the key shift on the bridge of "Space Cowboy", and the keen touches of pedal steel, harmonica, and banjo on "Oh, What a World". I also dug that from a lyrical standpoint, while there is a fair amount of love and affection on display, there's also an underlying melancholy that lurked - the breakup on "Space Cowboy", the cold loneliness of "Lonely Weekend", the lingering feeling that the happiest moments don't last long enough on "Happy & Sad", and the acceptance of imperfections from a partner on "Wonder Woman".

Yet for as much as I enjoyed Golden Hour, I don't consider it as lyrically deep or as genre-bending as it might have been marketed. I'll admit, I've been listening to indie country for a couple of years now outside of this journey, and I know other women out there who have made more compelling or experimental country music yet haven’t gotten the same amount of attention as Kacey has—Karen Jonas and Emily Scott Robinson, to name a few. Even Kacey herself has done better in the past; I think back to "Blowin' Smoke" from her debut Same Trailer, Different Park and that song had more sarcasm and wit in the lyrics that the songs on this album don't quite match. Not helping matters are certain percussive and melodic elements that are awkwardly blended, like the staccato piano and guitars that lead into "Butterflies" or the blown-out guitar solo of "Velvet Elvis".

At the end of the day, I still consider Golden Hour to be an enjoyable record. Sure, there may be some missteps here and there, and it's not as ambitious as it was hyped up to be, but still a fun album that I can see myself revisiting. I'm glad for Kacey's continued success, and I hope that rings true for other up-and-coming country women out there.

Liked this more than I expected to, considering I didn't think much of her new Deeper Well album. Interesting genre fusion, good production and some solid melodies Really enjoyed Space Cowboy, Butterflies, High Horse and Rainbow. Some of it is less memorable though, and the auto tune gets on my nerves after a while. Definitely worth a couple listens, but I won't be rushing back to it.

Never heard of Kacey before, I suspect she might be more popular in the US than the U.K. when I seen this was country pop i sighed.

Though pleasantly surprised after 1 listen, her vocals are good, and it’s actually works her mixing country with pop. An album worth listening to at least one, and I’m sure this would be more popular in the U.K. if folk heard it.